Thursday, December 1, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Is 2011 Causing You to Celebrate or Struggle? Leverage Trends Impacting Your Market
By Jim Ray. http://www.kentuckylawyermarketing.com/
As we start the fourth quarter – yes, already – you probably have a good idea of how the year is going to play out, financially. Financial performance is vital because it’s still a business. So, are you run-ning your firm as such? I’ve had the privilege of working for a cou-ple Fortune 500 companies. Please take a minute to consider some things I’ve learned:
The fourth quarter is when you start planning for next year, not something you put off until January.
Regardless of how well you advise your clients, they may or may not survive the economic downturn. Are you actively seeking out new re-lationships?
Take note of what changed this year. Were there more or fewer competitors? How has the econ-omy impacted your practice? Will it significantly change in 2012? Either way, how can you use that to your advantage?
Do your younger associates have that ―rainmaker‖ mentality, or do they expect to feed off your efforts again next year? Everyone has the ability to generate revenue, but have you communicated that expectation?
Many of the firms I contact are reevaluating how they’ve traditionally established new client relation-ships. There are a few interesting trends worth con-sidering.
Consumers and business leaders are becoming more sophisticated. If you’re practice is strongly based on word of mouth, people will still Google you. Today, "Google" is a verb. What they find might determine whether you’re the first call, or somewhere further down the list. Believe me, pro-spective clients have more than just your name to consider. Recently, sales of smart phones and tablets have outpaced PC’s. It’s becoming increasingly eas-ier for people to find information about you and your competition. The Internet’s not the future, it’s the now.
Online reputation management is a serious con-sideration. You should strongly consider making an effort to control what people find. Take a minute to Google yourself. What shows up? Ideally, it’s a professional profile, your firm’s Website, a map to your location, etc. Often, it’s a collection of uncon-trolled articles, records of political donations, a di-rectory or two (often with outdated information) and other miscellaneous items. This might even in-clude less than flattering ―reviews‖ of you or your firm. The Internet is today’s public record. Ignoring it could be dangerous.
Social Media is having an impact. Did you know that there are over 145 million Americans currently using social media (blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter). Last year, Facebook received more hits than Google! If you look at the segments, this isn’t just something teenagers are doing. While this might not be the initial area of focus for a compre-hensive retooling, it’s not something that should be left out of the mix.
Finally, people are ultimately looking for a posi-tive reason to hire you. Whether your firm has an effective Web presence or not, why shouldn’t you? There’s a growing trend of individuals at firms hav-ing their own sites. The advantage is that it provides an excellent way to leverage a reputation, while complimenting the firm’s ongoing efforts. Online, you’re not competing with your firm; you’re actually providing additional visibility as you push competitors to the second or third page. For upcoming associates, a productive site can substantially increase the revenue you’re bringing in for the firm. Unless your firm has a policy limiting rainmaking to the senior partners, why not engage in it?
The business of law is unique. Nonetheless, there are basic tenets of business that have to be considered. I hope you’ll take time to review your current strategy and make solid plans for 2012. While the economy has stifled some practice areas, there are still revenue opportunities that can make next year one of your best.
Article Published in the Fayette County Bar News
Article written by Jim Ray, Senior Client Development Consultant Kentucky | Indiana
http://www.kentuckylawyermarketing.com/
As we start the fourth quarter – yes, already – you probably have a good idea of how the year is going to play out, financially. Financial performance is vital because it’s still a business. So, are you run-ning your firm as such? I’ve had the privilege of working for a cou-ple Fortune 500 companies. Please take a minute to consider some things I’ve learned:
The fourth quarter is when you start planning for next year, not something you put off until January.
Regardless of how well you advise your clients, they may or may not survive the economic downturn. Are you actively seeking out new re-lationships?
Take note of what changed this year. Were there more or fewer competitors? How has the econ-omy impacted your practice? Will it significantly change in 2012? Either way, how can you use that to your advantage?
Do your younger associates have that ―rainmaker‖ mentality, or do they expect to feed off your efforts again next year? Everyone has the ability to generate revenue, but have you communicated that expectation?
Many of the firms I contact are reevaluating how they’ve traditionally established new client relation-ships. There are a few interesting trends worth con-sidering.
Consumers and business leaders are becoming more sophisticated. If you’re practice is strongly based on word of mouth, people will still Google you. Today, "Google" is a verb. What they find might determine whether you’re the first call, or somewhere further down the list. Believe me, pro-spective clients have more than just your name to consider. Recently, sales of smart phones and tablets have outpaced PC’s. It’s becoming increasingly eas-ier for people to find information about you and your competition. The Internet’s not the future, it’s the now.
Online reputation management is a serious con-sideration. You should strongly consider making an effort to control what people find. Take a minute to Google yourself. What shows up? Ideally, it’s a professional profile, your firm’s Website, a map to your location, etc. Often, it’s a collection of uncon-trolled articles, records of political donations, a di-rectory or two (often with outdated information) and other miscellaneous items. This might even in-clude less than flattering ―reviews‖ of you or your firm. The Internet is today’s public record. Ignoring it could be dangerous.
Social Media is having an impact. Did you know that there are over 145 million Americans currently using social media (blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter). Last year, Facebook received more hits than Google! If you look at the segments, this isn’t just something teenagers are doing. While this might not be the initial area of focus for a compre-hensive retooling, it’s not something that should be left out of the mix.
Finally, people are ultimately looking for a posi-tive reason to hire you. Whether your firm has an effective Web presence or not, why shouldn’t you? There’s a growing trend of individuals at firms hav-ing their own sites. The advantage is that it provides an excellent way to leverage a reputation, while complimenting the firm’s ongoing efforts. Online, you’re not competing with your firm; you’re actually providing additional visibility as you push competitors to the second or third page. For upcoming associates, a productive site can substantially increase the revenue you’re bringing in for the firm. Unless your firm has a policy limiting rainmaking to the senior partners, why not engage in it?
The business of law is unique. Nonetheless, there are basic tenets of business that have to be considered. I hope you’ll take time to review your current strategy and make solid plans for 2012. While the economy has stifled some practice areas, there are still revenue opportunities that can make next year one of your best.
Article Published in the Fayette County Bar News
Article written by Jim Ray, Senior Client Development Consultant Kentucky | Indiana
http://www.kentuckylawyermarketing.com/
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Google Universal Makes a Comeback-Lawyer Marketing Benefits from Panda Update
This article makes some very good points. Lawyer Marketing companies that are using the same content on every website are doing their clients a disservice. Google Panda is filtering those sites quickly. www.copyscape.com is a good way to see if your website has duplicate content.
Attorneys- listen up! It is not enough to have just a flat website. Google universal is looking for video, social media, press releases, etc. Web marketing is way more than just a pretty website.
http://www.caymanmama.com/2011/10/19/Google-Universal-Makes-a-Comeback-Lawyer-Marketing-Benefits-from-Panda-Update_2011101910115.html
Attorneys- listen up! It is not enough to have just a flat website. Google universal is looking for video, social media, press releases, etc. Web marketing is way more than just a pretty website.
http://www.caymanmama.com/2011/10/19/Google-Universal-Makes-a-Comeback-Lawyer-Marketing-Benefits-from-Panda-Update_2011101910115.html
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Social Media- How to use it to promote your business?
So if a CMO are struggling with social media, how can small law firms capitalize on this market space? First step, jump in. Don't wait for the big law firms, then do what they do. This is exactly how small firms and small business can compete. Use technology to take your market share of business.
Markters struggle to harness social media
Friday, September 16, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
71% of Online Americans Visit Video-Sharing Sites
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2097063/71-of-Online-Americans-Visit-Video-Sharing-Sites-Study
Video views are up from 8 million view per day in 2005 to 3 billion views per day in 2011. It's pretty apparent that law firms not only need video on their website but well optimized on youtube.com as well.
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